Self-Service Checkout Item Exception Display for Faster Resolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing self-service checkout systems lack informative item exception information, leading to increased transaction times and customer frustration due to attendants needing to manually identify items causing exceptions, which hinders throughput and customer experience.
Innovation Solution
A system that enhances self-service transaction workflows by providing descriptive information about the item causing the exception on the checkout terminal display, using item exception agents to detect and render details such as item codes, images, and features, allowing attendants to address issues efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the attendant manually identifies items causing exceptions by asking the customer, then the system can resolve item exceptions, but the transaction time increases and customer frustration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-identifying and displaying the item causing the exception on the SCO display before the attendant arrives. The exception detection system automatically determines which item caused the exception and presents this information to the attendant in advance, eliminating the need for the attendant to ask the customer to identify the item manually.
2Reliability
If the attendant manually identifies items causing exceptions, then the system can resolve item exceptions, but the attendant cannot assist other customers efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-identifying and displaying the item causing the exception on the SCO display before the attendant arrives. This allows the attendant to immediately address the exception without spending time identifying the item, thereby maintaining higher productivity while assisting multiple customers.
Solution Approach 2:
The exception detection system performs self-service by automatically detecting, identifying, and presenting the exception information to the attendant without requiring manual intervention from the customer or extensive investigation by the attendant. The system serves itself in identifying the problem and presenting it in a ready-to-resolve format.
3Loss of information
If the attendant asks the customer to identify the item, then the system can determine which item caused the exception, but customer frustration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically detecting, identifying, and presenting the exception information to the attendant without requiring manual intervention from the customer. The SCO system independently determines which item caused the exception and displays this information, eliminating the need for the customer to actively participate in identifying the problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the mechanical interaction of the attendant asking the customer to identify the item with an automated electronic system. The exception detection system uses electronic scanning, barcode recognition, and database queries to automatically identify the problematic item and display it on the SCO, substituting manual mechanical interaction with automated electronic processing.
Data Source
AI summary
An item exception is detected as being raised within a transaction workflow for a self-service transaction at a transaction terminal. Item descriptive information for an item that caused the item exception to be raised is obtained. When the workflow indicates that an attendant has logged into the terminal to address the item exception, the item descriptive information is rendered on a display of the terminal along with item exception details provided by the workflow.